The threat to this year's exams has deepened amid indications the Labour Court may be unable to deliver a recommendation within the time-frame set by the secondary teachers' union.
In a move likely to raise the temperature in the teachers' dispute, the Labour Court may be unable to meet the March 3rd deadline set by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI).
ASTI wants next Saturday's meeting of its 180-member Central Executive Committee (CEC) to vote on the Labour Court recommendation. But it is expected the union may have to wait for a recommendation. The expected delay by the Labour Court could unleash a fresh wave of militancy. One ASTI source said the union executive might even revive its campaign of industrial action - targeting next month's oral exams in particular - in protest.
But ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, will argue the court should be given a reasonable period to come up with its proposals.
The ASTI's campaign of strike action and its threat to the exams have been suspended during the hearing. Any major delay in the court's recommendation could see hardliners in the union pressing for fresh industrial action.
The Leaving Cert oral exams are due to begin next month, and preparatory work is under way. The ASTI could withdraw from this, if there is a prolonged delay with the Labour Court.
The court, which has been preoccupied with the Aer Lingus dispute and a range of others, has only begun its detailed consideration of the teachers' dispute. Both the ASTI and the Department of Education are expected to be called before the court for further consultations early next week.
The complexity of the teachers' dispute makes it impossible to frame a recommendation within the very tight ASTI deadline. It appears the Labour Court is not willing to work to a deadline set by the ASTI or any other body.
In a separate development, the National Parents' Council - Post-Primary (NPCPP) has stepped up its legal campaign against the proposed ASTI ban on exam work. Its president, Ms Marie Danaswamy, said the courts valued the constitutional right to a full education above the rights of teachers to pursue industrial action. This view, framed in a High Court case a decade ago, made her organisation determined to pursue every legal avenue.
The NPCPP, Ms Danaswamy said, was insisting the State exams would run normally this summer for the sake of the 120,000 students sitting the Junior and Leaving Cert exams. Any legal route which might advance its case would be pursued vigorously. The ASTI will be represented at next week's Labour Court talks by Mr Lennon, its deputy general secretary, Mr John White, its president, Mr Don McCluskey and its vice-president, Ms Catherine Fitzpatrick.